Carlos called at twelve thirty, Spain
time, from camp 4, at 7,100 meters of altitude.

Everything goes as planned. He is with
Juanito and Tolo. It was hard to climb, they are hydrating and resting.
Tonight, around 2 in the morning, they will leave for the summit. They have
at least 9 hours for the ascent, a difference of altitude of 1,000 meters.
They will attempt to make it to the summit as soon as possible, because there
are storms coming this Wednesday. The idea is to get back down to camp 4 from
the summit, and on Wednesday very early, start to descend to base. Carlos is
very excited, because he is caressing his dream of reaching one of the most
dangerous summits of the planet. We know that Javier returned safe and sound
to base camp. We will keep you posted.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Sunday, April 25, 2010

CAMP 3

Carlos called around noon, Spain time,
from camp 3 at 6,600 meters. This morning, the three of them along with
Javier began to climb from camp 2. One of Javierís crampons broke and decided
to get back to camp 2. The entire Korean expedition is there in camp 2.
Javier will have to get down to base tomorrow. For Carlos, Juanito and Tolo,
the summit attempt is still on. Tomorrow, if the weather permits, they will
climb to camp 4 where they will spend the night. If they make it, they will
go for the summit on the morning of Tuesday 27.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Saturday, April 24, 2010

SNOWING ON CAMP 2

Carlos, Javier, Juanito and Tolo have
reached camp 2 at 14 hours, Nepal time. The weather was as expected, good
during the morning, but snowy since noon. It was snowing heavily when they
called, so they were worried. Annapurna is a mountain with a lot of risks by
itself, and if it keeps snowing it becomes even more dangerous. The Korean
expedition, which was in camp 3, went down to camp 1 because of bad weather.
They will wait there until tomorrow, when they will decide to climb again or
to go down to base. Our climbers will do the same, but from camp 2. They
will decide to continue or to go down tomorrow. The zone of camp 2, where
they installed the tents, is safe. We will keep you posted.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Annapurna, Friday, April 23, 2010

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Today is April 23, the day of the patron
of our extraordinary land. We will finish this Frago ham that has lasted so
many days and we will remember anecdotes and dearly moments of our towns,
cities and people. Our Aragon flag flies in the Puja and it is going to be a
different day without doubt, as it has been for so many years here in the
Himalayas. I think that I have celebrated this day here for the last 7 years,
since I started my pilgrimage over these mountains with the Aragon flag on my
back. Everything has happened, good and bad moments, but I can assure you
that, since the Government of Aragon gave me this opportunity, I just have
been proud of being from Aragon and to fight shoulder by shoulder with people
from all over the world for a common objective. We have climbed a lot of
mountains, but we have shown a lot of people how our Aragonian character is
and what kind of blood runs though our veins. Today is also a very special
day for all of us. We got the weather forecast and we decided the day of our
summit attack: April 27. It wonít be a day with a perfect weather, but we
expect it will be enough to finish this adventure. We have rested for 6 days,
we forgot everything bad that has happened and we have focused for the final
battle, which has arrived. We will leave for camp 2 tomorrow, day after
tomorrow for camp 3 and then to camp 4. The dice have rolled and in a few
hours we will dip into this ghostly, dangerous and difficult mineral world.
We will fight for our dream, to achieve an objective which is reachable for
few and we know that we will give everything weíve got. As climbers these
could be our hardest and most exciting moments of our lives. Any way, we
should not forget that life is complex and cruel and that we all have our
Annapurna in our lives. Ours, also, has that same name. We will prepare with
calm this afternoon, with an almost mystical ceremony. We will remember our
loved ones, our friends. We will dream of going back to hug them and to live
a lot of things with them. Personally, I will follow the same ritual I have
done every time. I will dress accordingly, leave my tent well organized,
check the last detail and call my family. I will think about my daughter, in
how proud I am of her, and Iíll hope I have been able to transmit to her the
essential values of life: friendship, strength and sacrifice. I will slowly
go to sleep and tomorrow at daybreak everything will be different. I will be
a different person, a walking machine, a suffering machine and my only thought
will be to get up there and to survive. Along with my teammates we will fight
for our objective, we will help each other, we will cry and laugh together.
We will climb and get down. Before we can imagine everything will be over
and I just hope that we have a little luck for all these things. We are ready
without a doubt. Happy Saint Georgeís day everybody.

Carlos Pauner

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Earlier: Annapurna, Sunday, April 18, 2010

ON THE EDGE OF THE SWORD

Suddenly, a terrific sound surrounds us. I look up and see an
avalanche of blocks of ice that falls down as a meteorite shower. I
dodge the first one, which sweeps away the hat from my head and I dive to the
ground, as my teammates do. A first set of hits and someone screams: Are you
all ok? No answer, or at least not what we hoped.
Another set of blocks the size of a TV hits us without mercy.
Afterwards, silence. Absolute silence and a group of shadows with
human shape that begin to rise little by little, still with a
frightening look in their eyes. Miraculously we are all alive and
still in the same place. Xavi got the worst part and was hit hard in
his back. All the others are slightly hurt. We have just arrived to
the location of camp 3 and this was our welcome. A hard day without a doubt.
At 8 in the morning we were leaving camp 2 and were ready to cross the most
dangerous zone of this cruel mountain. Under the big funnel that comes down
from the altitudes, we cross with our beating hearts under tons of dangling
ice. After 30 minutes of tension, we cross this Thermopiles pass and we get
onto a lateral corridor, safe from avalanches, or at least that is what it
looks like. Then a very vertical terrain that has leaded us to the hanging
glacier of camp 3.
It is a dangerous place, exposed, and while we decide where to install the
tents, we were surprised by this avalanche of ice, that comes from a crack of
a frozen wall hundreds of meters above us. Frightened, disoriented, we went
down a few meters and installed the camp sheltered by a gigantic block of
ice. This is indeed a safe place and we could rest from a day filled with
risk and fatigue. We are resting today at base camp, meditating about what
happened, knowing that we were supremely lucky on a mountain that doesnít give
chances to a climber. Xavi is recovering from the hit and we are all resting
calmly knowing that we did our job and with the panic tingles still inside our
bones. With this episode we finish our acclimatization period and now we wait
for the summit attack. Next time we go up will be to go to camp 2, then to
camp 3 and then to the summit, installing an intermediate camp 4 before
caressing the white summit. Letís hope everything goes ok, as it has been so
far. Letís hope we continue having this point of luck that has come with us
until this date. We will proceed cautiously, with no fear. We will proceed
with hope and caution in a difficult and beautiful mountain of the Himalayas.

Carlos Pauner

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Saturday, April 17, 2010

RESTING AT BASE

We finally have news. Carlos and the rest of the group rest at base
camp. They climbed from camp 2 to camp 3, where they slept. They had a lot
of problems, because when they were installing camp 3 at 6,600 meters of
altitude, a close by serac broke and an avalanche of blocks of ice came down
hitting some of them. Luckily they have some bruises but they are alright,
but with the fright in their bodies. This morning they descended from camp 3
directly to base camp, where they are now. Tomorrow Carlos will tell us about
what happened on this journey to camp 3. They have all completed their
acclimatization now, and after resting some days, they will attempt the attack
to the summit, if the weather is fine.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Annapurna, Thursday, April 15, 2010

SLEEPING IN CAMP 2

Carlos, Javier and the rest of the group left this morning from base
camp to camp 2. They got there after a long journey. They are
resting there tonight, and tomorrow they will go up with the intention to
mount camp 3 and sleep there.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Annapurna, Saturday, April 10, 2010

BACK TO BASE

We are a few steps away from base camp, walking back from our high altitude
trip. We are stepping on the grass at the border of the
glacier and in some 20 minutes we will be in the tents of our mountain home.
I breath deeply, calm, comforted by the morning sun, happy to be back after a
job well done. We have been inside the mountain for two days. The first took
us to camp 1, 5,000 m of altitude. We decided to stay there, because the
perspective of crossing the cracked glacier ahead was not the more prudent
thing to do at those hours of a warm noon. On the morning of the next day,
tethered and with extreme care, we crossed the entire glacier and we climbed
on the snowy ridge that leads to the location of camp 2, at 5,600 m. From
that place, another image of this terrible mountain can be seen. Already
inside of it you can see the large walls of ice that lead to camp 3. The
vision is disturbing and you can see the large dangling glaciers and walls of
ice in unstable and feeble balance. A large avalanche surprises us just
before going to sleep, but luckily it passes at some distance. Now we can
calm down. We donít have to be so alert to
every noise, every crackling of ice, every dangling rope. We slept at
enough altitude for our acclimatization, at least at 50%. Now 3 or 4
days to rest and we have to try to install camp 3 and sleep there.
This will be the final point and the next leave will be a summit
attempt. We still have much to go, but by then we will have to cross a really
dangerous zone. This is the key to the ascent and we have to count with
swiftness and luck in equal parts. I donít want to think much about it now.
We will have time for that later. For the moment, calm, chat with other
expeditions and to wait for the evolution of the mountain, which by now is in
good conditions. We could say that we have a nice progress on our way to
Annapurna.

Carlos and Javier are already at Camp 2, at 5,600 meters. The route
from 1 to 2 was in better conditions than yesterday, and they arrived without
problems. They are going to spend the night there, and early tomorrow they
will go down to base camp. They will meet their first acclimatization phase,
as they had planned. The weather forecast says that they have three or four
days of bad weather coming. They will use them to recover and to rest at base
camp, before doing another incursion on the mountain again.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Annapurna, Wednesday, April 7, 2010

SLEEPING IN CAMP 1

Carlos and Javier left early this morning from base camp, with the
intention of going up to install camp 2. They reached camp 1, at
5,050 meters, and they started to climb to camp 2. It was late, it
was very hot, and they found zones with a lot of crevasses in bad
shape and very dangerous. They decided to go back to camp 1 where
they are now. They will spend the night there, and early tomorrow,
also colder, they will climb to camp 2.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Saturday, April 3, 2010

CAMP 1

Carlos and the rest of the group left yesterday very early from base
camp. They climbed up to 5,000 meters where they installed camp 1.
They left there the necessary equipment and went back down to base camp. It
took them a lot of hours, and the route is very complicated. Now they will
rest two or three days until they leave base again with the intention of
installing camp 2.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Annapurna, April 1, 2010

UNDER THE SLEEPING BEAST

We have installed our base camp at 4,200 m of altitude, under the
spectacular Annapurna. After numerous helicopter flights we could
bring up here everything we need for this expedition. We had our Puja today,
this ceremony that pretends to put away the bad spirits of the mountain and
cover us with luck and bonanza at the same time. The day has been sunny and a
little windy, but it did not snow as the last two days. We took a furtive
glance at the almost 4,000 meters of wall that separate us from the summit of
this gigantic mountain. It is impressive. This face of Annapurna looks like
an agitated and convulse wall, with hanging and broken glaciers, impossible
aristas and chaos everywhere. It is hard to imagine a safe route for
the ascent in this world of vertical ice. Not in vain, our route sorts the
hanging glaciers, trying to find, in the high part, the Hoz glacier, where the
path to the summit is clearer. First we will have to cross a glacier and
avoid a large slope of blocks of ice to reach camp 1, at some 5,000 m of
altitude. From there a cracked glacier will take us to the bottom of the
large intermediate plain, where we will install camp 2. Crossing this plain
and get on top of a spur of ice will be the most dangerous part, because we
will be threatened by all the seracs in the higher part. From camp 3 to 4 we
still have to pass a large wall of ice, previous to the superior glacier. The
entire route is complex and demanding, just like this mythical mountain of the
Himalayas. For the moment, we will concentrate in the immediate things, as
always. Tomorrow, we will take the path to camp1, carrying tents and some gas
to install. We will spend the day outside and during the afternoon we will be
back to the comfort and safety of our base camp. It is going to be like that
always. Advance little by little, thinking in the next thing, attacking
problems one at a time altitude in this wild world which will be our home for
some time. Edurneís group is ahead of us, they have already told us about the
route. We will collaborate with the other expeditions and we will all try to
leave a route that is reasonable safe, hoping that we all can be lucky in this
great mountain challenge. A lot of work ahead, but for the moment everything
goes as planned and we will be already working tomorrow, trying to decipher
the traps we will surely find these weeks. The long journey to Annapurna
starts now.

Carlos Pauner

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Tuesday, March 30, 2010

AT BASE CAMP

Carlos, Javier and Tolo are already at base camp. They flew yesterday from
Katmandu to Pokhara, where they caught another flight to Tatopani, a little
Nepalese town located at 1,190 meters of altitude. From Tatopani they were
transported to Annapurna base camp at 4,200 meters of altitude.

They needed seven helicopter flights to move the equipment and loads.
They met two expeditions there, with whom they will share this
expeditionís base camp, with the expedition of Al Filo [de lo
Impossible] and with the Korean expedition. Carlos mentioned that
everybody is ok, and that it is a comfortable and a little cold base
camp, because of the altitude is not as elevated as in other
eight-thousands. Now they are going to organize what will be their
hope for the next weeks.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Zaragoza, Monday,
March 29, 2010

TOWARD POKHARA

Carlos, Javier and
the rest of the group arrived at Katmandu by Thursday afternoon. On Friday
and Saturday they organized all the necessary paperwork to leave to Annapurna.
They have checked the material, distributed the loads, requested the
permissions and other papers and they are ready. They also had time to visit
an orphanage in Katmandy where the Kumara association in Zaragoza sponsors
some children.

Yesterday, Sunday,
they were going to fly to Pokhara, but they delayed the flight until today.
This change of plans is because it is not clear if they can reach base camp by
foot. They may have to catch a helicopter. They will have more information
when they land in Pokhara today, and we will tell you then.

Translated from
Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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